It has been two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It sold well over half a million units upon release, while demand for their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene active, with expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
